the masked ball, which usually takes place during the carnival, was forbidden; but some of those who have since appeared at the head of the republican party, had formed a plan, in order to exhibit their strength, to parade the streets on horseback, with masks on their faces, in the characters of the "Juif Errant." Heavy rains, however, coming on, put a stop to every thing of the sort, or, as they would have gone armed, if the military had attempted to interfere, there would doubtless have been a disturbance. Something very similar took place when the Mexicans were first struggling to throw off their allegiance to the parent state. At the same time the Jesuit agents of the Miguelite, or Absolute party, were at work in their own way. A society was instituted, which had some time previously existed in Lisbon, called the " Coração de Maria,” who held a meeting on the second Sunday in every month, "to pray for the conversion of the impious."

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On the 8th of March they met in a church at Oporto, called the "Congregados." A great number of well-known Miguelite families, with numerous ladies, members of the society, were present, while the church was crowded also with people of very different politics. The service was performed quietly, but scarcely had the sermon been commenced by an eloquent preacher, a strenuous supporter of Dom Miguel, than a party of young men (noted Septembristas republicans) who had posted themselves near the pulpit, began to hiss and stamp violently. On this the preacher quietly said, "If any of my audience are not good Catholics they had better leave the church.” The answer was a general murmur among the congregation, which, as the priest attempted to proceed, increased to a complete uproar, till the confusion became dreadful. mob, probably already prepared, collected outside the church, and increased the noise with their cries. Ladies screamed and fainted, and, with the priests, clung to the altars for protection or escaped into the vestry, many were much injured, and the robes of the priests were torn from their backs, though no lives were lost. At last, on the appearance of the municipal guard the disturbance was quelled. The actors in this scene belonged to the two parties who have since pretended to combine, in order to oppose the queen. About this time, in the provinces, men habited in women's clothes, calling themselves the children of Maria da Fonte, in imitation probably of Rebecca's daughters, of whom their leader had read, went about instigating the people to revolt. When small bodies of troops were sent against them the latter were generally driven back with loss. When the men began to rise and arm, the women worked hard to arrange their accoutrements and arms; they encouraged them also by their presence, and distracted the soldiers opposed to them by assembling on the hills, waving their handkerchiefs, and uttering loud cries. At last, Amazon-like, they mixed with the combatants, and in the melée numbers lost their lives. On the 21st of April Josè Cabral, the brother of the minister, and still more obnoxious to the people, arrived at Oporto with 600 men, but his coming tended rather to increase than to quell the disturbances, and the city was surrounded with bands of peasants armed with weapons of their own providing. Early in May many hundreds came into Oporto, and muskets were put into their hands, but when they found that military officers were prepared to drill them, and that they were to act as regular troops, they decamped, carrying off the arms which had been given them. The transaction was, no doubt, effected through the treachery of some of the

republicans. The next day a band of upwards of 1000 well-armed peasants appeared at one of the northern barriers of Oporto, and when the troops were sent to oppose their entrance several rounds were exchanged between them, and an officer and two soldiers were wounded, and a peasant was killed. While this affair was going forward some men contrived by ladders to reach the alarm bells in the church of the Cedofeita, and the confusion in the city became general. As it was supposed that the barracks of St. Ovidio were threatened, cannon were posted at the top of each street leading to that quarter after this, for some time, the city remained tranquil. In the country, however, the Miguelites were very active, Dom Fernando, the son of the Marquis of Villa Real, raised a Guerilla of 500 men, and took possession of Amaranti, where many men of rank joined him. On hearing of ith Josè Cabral gave notice that he would shoot the first of them he caught, but his reign was soon to end, and the queen at length hearing of these proceedings dismissed the Cabrals, and desired the Duke of Palmella to form new ministry. He did so from among the ultra liberal party, and pacification was now the order of the dayog moral b zisz to

On the 30th of May a large Guerilla, assembled at Valongo, about nine miles from Oporto, threatened to attack the city. On this the civil governor, the Visconde de Beire, went out to meet them, and returned, accompanied by the chiefs, who were all dressed in bandit costume, with broad-brimmed hats and feathers, and round jackets, belts, or sashes, with pistols and daggers stuck in themi As on their way to dinner at the governor's house, they passed along the Campo de St. Ovidio, which was full of troops, they were saluted with loud groans and hisses, the officers looking very indignant at seeing their opponents treated with so much consideration. Soon after this those officers who had been employed against the rebels, were superseded and summoned to Lisbon, causing almost a mutiny among the men, who were much attached to them.

Dom Fernando received an office under government, and several young Miguelite nobles who had been taken prisoners among a Guerilla band, in an encounter with the troops at Penafiel, were liberated from Foz Castle, a party of young men assembling to bring them out in triumph. The city was now full of Guerilla bands, who took every occasion to insult the troops. At times, indeed, the military governor, the Visconde de Fonte Nova, had the greatest difficulty in restraining the soldiers from revenging themselves, though as a proof of the admirable discipline he maintained over them while he remained at their head, no outbreak took place.

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This state of things continued till the queen, perceiving that her liberal ministry were throwing all the power into the hands of the republicans, suddenly dismissed them re-established the Charter, and sent the Duke of Terceira to Oporto to take command of the army of the north. On his arrival, he found that a revolution had taken place, the city was in the hands of the professed republicans, a Junta was established, and he was thrown into prison, where he still remains.

At first the old noble was confined in the castle of San João da Foz, where he could enjoy the fresh air of the sea, but the rebels, fearing that he might make his escape, removed him before daybreak one morning to the common felons' prison in Oporto, whence his only prospect is a blank wall. Next to his room is the fever ward! The rebel leaders, to some of whom he is related, hold him as a hostage for their own heads, should they fall into the hands of the queen, and his imprisonment may

perhaps influence his old brother in arms, Saldanha, in his hesitation to advance on Oporto.

While these events were occurring in the north, some of the leading Septembristas quitted Lisbon, and seducing some of the regular troops, who were joined by numerous Guerilla bands, put themselves at their head. On this Saldanha was sent against them, and at Torres Vedras, and wherever he encountered them he defeated them with great loss. In the Minho the queen's generals were equally successful, and a large Miguelite Guerilla, under the English adventurer, Macdonel, was compelled to retreat while their general was killed.

The rebels of the various political parties who had managed to escape from the field, took refuge in Oporto, which they immediately commenced fortifying, and soon placed in a condition to hold out against the queen's armies. Had Saldanha and the other loyal generals followed up their first sucesses, they would, in all probability, have succeeded in capturing Oporto; but in the hope that the rebels would not longer hold out, and from their unwillingness to shed more blood, they contented themselves with merely surrounding the city till the severity of the winter put a stop to further operations. Since that time literally nothing has been done; and it is to be hoped that the affair may be settled by the mediation of foreign powers, since neither of the contending parties appear to have strength to terminate the contest by themselves. The queen's generals seem lately to have acted most supinely, while the rebels have lost no opportunity of improving their resources. The queen's steamers which were so disgracefully delivered into their hands, have afforded them the means of fitting out an expedition to make a descent on some parts of the coast, with the result of which, by the time this is in print, my readers will be acquainted. As an example of the injury accruing to commerce, while some of the queen's troops hold the Castle of Vianna, a town of considerable importance to the north of Oporto, the troops of the Junta have possession of the surrounding houses. An English merchantman, laden with salt fish, lies at the mouth of the river, ready to discharge her cargo, and the rebels wish her to do so, provided the duty is paid to them, but the garrison of the castle, to prevent this, threatened to sink her, should she attempt to break bulk. Thus she remains,

neither party allowing the other to make use of her cargo, which is in the meantime running great risk of being spoilt. I must here take an opportunity to contradict a calumnious report which went the round of the English papers regarding the behaviour of that gallant soldier, the Baron de Casal on the taking of Braga. It was stated that he allowed his troops to commit every kind of excess, and that numbers of the inhabitants were murdered after the place was entered. This atrocious falsehood was fabricated by some of the friends of the Junta, and was forwarded to the English admiral at Lisbon, who stated what he had heard to the queen. Her majesty would immediately have recalled her general, but her ministers recommending an inquiry to be made into the truth of the report, the channel through which it had come was traced out, and it was proved to be utterly unfounded. The Portuguese, as a nation, are more humane than any people in Europe, and even during the civil wars in which they have been unhappily so long plunged, have never been guilty of those excesses which stain the character of other more civilised people.

A very important question now arises. What line of policy is England

to take with regard to Portugal ? France, and, of course, Spain, follows the same lead, have shown their determination to support the queen, and to ingratiate themselves to the utmost through their diplomatic agents with the Portuguese.

For this wise purpose, for some years past, the French have employed men of considerable talent and attractive manners to gain the affections of all classes of the Portuguese, which they most effectively have succeeded in doing. Every thing French has consequently become the fashion in Portugal. French politics, French religion, customs and costume, and all those who can afford it, send their sons to school or to travel in France. They, of course, contrast the cold, if not contemptuous, manners of the English, with the conciliatory behaviour of their Gallic friends, and although with the latter there can be but slight commercial relations, they might be tempted, even contrary to their own interests, to combine with them against us in case of another general continental war; and should Portugal again become a battle-ground, we should find the difference of having to march through her rocky defiles with a population armed against instead of for us. Gratitude for past assistance must not be for a moment calculated on. Years of bungling interference have wiped away all feeling of the sort which formerly existed, for although I believe we are still respected, we are most certainly, as a nation, more hated than loved. The Portuguese are fully sensible of their weakness, and are not blind to their own miserable plight, nor, at the same time forgetful of the lofty position from which they have fallen, but we ought to recollect, that there is no person so proud as a decayed gentleman, and that to relieve his necessities we must do so with as much delicacy as possible, or he would spurn our offers. It is precisely this feeling which prompts the advisers of the queen to refuse the mediation of England in settling the dispute with her rebel subjects. When driven to it at last, as she inevitably must be, she will do so with a bad grace; and I strongly doubt whether our interference will have any other effect than that of merely dispersing the rebels for a time, to reunite before long against her in some new combination. I do not think that the Miguelite party have any chance of success. His public, as well as his private character have deprived Dom Miguel of all the respect in which he otherwise might have been held by those who consider it their interest to support him, and supposing that he had any right to the throne, he virtually abandoned all his pretensions when he agreed to act as regent for his niece, and took the oath of allegiance to her, still more did he forfeit all his claims to the affections of his countrymen when he so flagitiously broke his oath, and usurped her crown, murdering, without remorse, all who ventured to oppose him. He is, in fact, at present, merely a tool in the hands of a small and bigoted party, worked on by the Jesuits, and should he even succeed in gaining the throne, he would very soon be driven forth again an outcast as he now is.

Neither the existing Spanish nor French governments would wish to see the republican party succeed; and certainly we should not: we therefore have but one course to pursue-first to assist the queen in quelling the rebellion, and to persuade her to act with clemency towards the rebels, and then, if we would regain the influence we once possessed in the country, by sending out intelligent and courteous political agents to conciliate the people by every means in our power.

RECOLLECTIONS OF LEMAN REDE.

WILLIAM LEMAN REDE was born on the 31st January, 1802, in the city of Hamburg. He was a collateral descendant of Sir John Lemann, Lord Mayor of London, who founded the great Lemann Estates in Goodman's Fields, and elsewhere, which of late years have given rise to so many claimants and so much litigation. The father of the subject of these recollections was Thomas Rede, Esq., Barrister-at-Law, the author of a book on "The Laws of England," for which he was compelled to expatriate himself from the country, in 1799; and a translation of "St. Pierre's Anecdotes of Eminent Characters." It is said that a scrap-book he had formed was valued at a thousand pounds. He died when William was only eight years old, leaving a widow and five children, who shortly afterwards settled in London. This was in the year 1807. There are few records of Rede's boyish career, save that he early evinced that firmness of purpose which in after-life so eminently characterised him. He excelled in athletic sports; and became noted as a formidable bruiser. Being of a naturally pugnacious disposition, he settled all his disputes with his fists; but it is remarkable, that the most lasting of his friendships were with those persons whom, in youth, he had soundly thrashed. Indeed, he at one time contemplated following pugilism as a profession, and actually trained in Sussex, and fought a match for 407., under the sobriquet of "The Brighton Gipsy Boy."

On attaining a fitting age, Mr. Rede was placed in the office of Mr. Rosser, a solicitor, with a view to being articled. He displayed much aptitude for business, and acquired sufficient knowledge of the law to render him in maturer years a safe authority on matters of legal difficulty; but he disliked the profession, and, to use his own words, "would rather have pounced upon any thing than parchment."

An amateur theatre-that outlet through which cramped genius so frequently finds a way into the world-soon beguiled young Rede from the labours of the desk. Here his elder brother, Leman Thomas, and himself, laid that dramatic foundation on which they both reared their means of future livelihood. On one occasion their mother attended, and the curtain being unexpectedly raised while they were rehearsing a combat, she was so terrified under the impression that they were mortally engaged, for she was quite ignorant of every thing relating to Thespian matters, that she shrieked loudly to have them separated, and was carried insensible from the theatre. Soon after this, William, in 1823, made his first public appearance at the Margate Theatre, as Young Marlowe in Goldsmith's comedy of "She Stoops to Conquer." He subsequently appeared at Bristol; and eventually in the metropolis, at the Tottenham-street Theatre, then called the West London, where he produced a very favourable impression in light comedy. The strongest friendship subsisted between himself and his brother, and they were styled "The Inseparables. This intimacy ripened with their years, and to Thomas did William owe his chief prosperity. A circumstance occurred about this time, trivial in itself, but strikingly illustrative of